Making Personalized CD Envelopes

Problem: Making a mix CD for a friend, don’t have any spare jewel cases or CD envelopes.

Solution: Make my own artistic CD envelope! Read on to see how I combine Photoshop, photos, and a color printer for a “low cost” solution. (Low cost, that is, if you already have Photoshop.) Photoshop file download below!

The process:

In Photoshop, I created a 10.1″ x 5.5″ document at 200 dpi. (You can make the resolution higher if you want, but this worked out best for some of the photos I was using.) I made two rectangular shapes that were 1010 px wide and 1000 px high. These became the front and back of the CD envelope. Then, I created two trapezoid “guides” attached to the top and bottom of the front side of the CD envelope. Here’s what my document looks like:

Now it was simple enough to drag and drop my stock photos or personal digital photos and use the square shapes as clipping masks. Add a list of songs and a title, and my design was complete.

Then I just had to print it out (using slightly heavier-weight paper), cut around the edges (including the guides), fold between the back/front and fold down the flaps, and glue the flaps to the inside of the back cover.

Here are some CD cover designs for inspiration… The top one shows the “flaps” highlighted in blue.

Download:

To help get you jump started, I’ve included my Photoshop template in a .zip.

CD Envelope Template – CD-cover.zip
Photoshop CS2 file. Low-budget but cool and artistic solution for people who already have Photoshop and access to a color printer.